OfferUp Spotlights Businesses Built From Listings
OfferUp Dreams Start Here spotlights Victor Villa and Carmen Vera, who used marketplace purchases to start growing businesses.
OfferUp has launched Dreams Start Here, a video campaign featuring entrepreneurs who used purchases on its local marketplace to start businesses. The campaign follows Victor Villa, who bought a $500 secondhand grill, and Carmen Vera, who bought a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass for $4,000. Their stories will run across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. OfferUp says the platform supports owners looking for equipment, inventory, local customers, and professional listings.
From A Grill To Restaurants
Villa launched Villa’s Tacos from his grandmother’s backyard in Los Angeles after finding the grill on OfferUp. The business has since grown to three restaurant locations and received Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition for three consecutive years. Villa’s Tacos also appeared in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February 2025, and Villa continues to use OfferUp for equipment and supplies.
A Classic Car Business
Vera left her union job to restore classic cars after finding a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass on OfferUp. She and her business partner spent seven months restoring the car from the ground up. Vera now runs a restoration business with customers from the West Coast to Hawaii and Texas.
Tools For Business Sellers
OfferUp says thousands of businesses sell through the marketplace in categories including furniture and home goods, electronics, auto parts, and sporting goods. Its business tools are intended for owners who need to source affordable tools and equipment, create listings, reach local buyers, and build reviews.
According to OfferUp’s latest Recommerce Report, 57% of sellers use money from secondhand transactions for bills and everyday expenses, while 28% put it toward long-term goals. OfferUp reports that more than one in six US adults use the platform and that it handles more than 30 million transactions each year.
“Victor and Carmen represent exactly the kind of stories that remind us why we do what we do. OfferUp was built to help people buy, sell, and connect locally, and it's incredible to see how a single purchase or local connection on the platform can help someone turn an idea into a business,”
A Starting Point For Ideas
For solopreneurs and side hustlers, the campaign offers two examples of how a local listing can become an early business purchase. Business owners can find more information on OfferUp’s business site.
From an announcement by OfferUp.
